Bird Idioms: Idioms have been a very prominent part of speech since day one. Idioms are phrases that have a meaning which differs from what they seem like. Idioms introduce a more exciting and fun way to deliver our sentences. Idioms on birds and animals are getting very famous since they are something most people can relate to. Bird idioms and expressions have a creative aspect when we use them in our daily sentences because of their range of expressiveness.
In this article, we have concluded a list of bird idioms and their meanings to get us more familiar with the world of idioms.
Enrich your Vocabulary by practicing the English Idioms that are commonly used in everyday conversations and understand their actual meaning.
Names of Bird Idioms
List of Bird Idioms
- (Bird in a) Gilded (Golden) Cage
- A Home Bird
- A Rare Bird
- Sitting Duck
- Fox in the Henhouse (Chicken house)
- Get One’s Ducks in a Row
- Ugly Duckling
- Swan Song
- Eagle-Eyed
- Feather One’s Nest
- Flew the Coop
- Put Legs Under a Chicken
- Sick As a Parrot
- What’s Good for the Goose Is Good for the Gander
- Wild Goose Chase
- Eat Crow
- (Someone’s) Goose Is Cooked
- Like a Duck to Water
- Dead as a Dodo
- Graceful as a Swan
- Proud as a Peacock
- Birds of a Feather Flock Together
- The Early Bird Catches the Worm
- Take Someone Under Your Wing
- Skinny as a Rail
- Happy as a Lark
- A Little Bird Told Me
- Birds of A Feather
- Bird’s-Eye View
- Early Bird
- Kill Two Birds with One Stone
- Night Owl
- A Lame Duck
Meaning And Explanation Of A Few Commonly Used Birds Idioms
(Bird in a) Gilded (Golden) Cage
Meaning: Bird in a golden or a gilded cage means is to live a luxurious life, but not an independent life. That is to lack freedom for oneself.
Example: jake was never happy in his golden cage.
A Home Bird
Meaning: A home bird refers to someone who likes to stay in their own house. They don’t want to leave their house quickly since they are most happy there.
Example: Stacy is such a home bird; the only outing she knows is Netflix and chill at home.
A Rare Bird
Meaning: A rare bird refers to someone who has unique abilities and is different from others positively.
Example: the win for them was like catching a rare bird.
Sitting Duck
Meaning: Sitting duck refers to an easy target. It implies when something is straightforward to achieve. This idiom is derived from a sitting duck’s situation as the easiest target for hunting.
Example: With all our star players, winning this time was a sitting duck for us.
Fox in the Henhouse (Chicken house)
Meaning: A fox in the henhouse or a fox in the chicken house refers to a traitor or someone with bad intentions.
Example: During the whole conversation, they tried to find out the fox’s presence in the henhouse.
Get One’s Ducks in a Row
Meaning: To get one’s ducks in a row means when someone assembles and plans out their tasks and schedules them perfectly so that they can be ready for the next step.
Example: She went to the party right after she got her ducks in a row.
Ugly Duckling
Meaning: Ugly duckling refers to someone who is expected to be of low standards or ugly by people, but turns out against all the I’ll meet expectations and beautiful and of high standards
Example: He was referred to as the ugly duckling, well, not anymore after his dance performance.
Swan Song
Meaning: Swan song is the reference to the final gesture or the ending gesture. It also refers to the final performance or delivery before retirement or death.
Example: Hence the Swan Song was sung as he bid him farewell.
Eagle-Eyed
Meaning: Eagle-eyed is referred to someone when they have keen eyes. They can see clearly and have a very sharp and observant eye.
Example: A detective needs to be eagle-eyed.
Feather One’s Nest
Meaning: To feather one’s nest means to look after their things. It is used more when it comes to materialistic aspects.
Example: The director had made it clear to feather one’s nest since it would be extremely crowded.
Flew the Coop
Meaning: Flew the Coop is an informal phrase referring to when someone or a group of people leave suddenly or secretly.
Example: the gangsters flew the coop as soon as they heard the police was coming
Put Legs Under a Chicken
Meaning: This idiom is often used for someone who is extremely talkative. They also exaggerate everything they say.
Example: For someone, he likes he would put legs under a Chicken too.
Sick As a Parrot
Meaning: Being sick as a parrot means to feel highly disappointed. When someone is annoyed and frustrated over something, then they are called as sick as a parrot.
Example: When she heard that her albums broke, she was sick as a Parrot
What’s Good for the Goose Is Good for the Gander
Meaning: To express this phrase in one word, it means equality. If one person is treated in a certain way, then the other person should also be treated in the same way, and this should be fair.
Example: We should treat each other fairly since what’s good for the Goose is suitable for the Grander
Wild Goose Chase
Meaning: Wild goose chase is referred to a desperate search for something unreachable or unattainable in the pursuit of the impossible.
Example: Reality is different from fantasy; we should not go after the wild goose chase
Eat Crow
Meaning: This phrase means when someone is humiliated by making them admitting their faults.
Example: The so-called expert company board is going to eat crow tomorrow morning.
(Someone’s) Goose Is Cooked
Meaning: Someone’s Goose us cooked means that the person is now exposed, that is, the truth is out, and now they might fall into trouble.
Example: We should let him know his Goose is cooked; he should be careful from now on.
Like a Duck to Water
Meaning: This phrase means learning something quickly or straightforward to understand without any difficulty. It also means to ace something.
Example: The music lessons were like a duck to water for us.
Dead as a Dodo
Meaning: Dead as a Dodo is used when someone or something is no longer influential. They have lost their value and are not attractive now.
Example: The organization was dead as a Dodo with the new faculty.
Graceful as a Swan
Meaning: It refers to someone or something very graceful and polite. Also, someone or something with an almost ethereal feeling to them.
Example: The dance was as graceful as a Swan.
Proud as a Peacock
Meaning: This is another famous phrase that says that someone is incredibly proud of themselves.
Example: Being as proud as a Peacock is both grand and showing off.
Birds of a Feather Flock Together
Meaning: The phrase Birds of a feather flock together usually means people with similar interests and similar opinions always stick together.
Example: The animes fans stuck together with the whole concert like the birds of a feather flock does together.
The Early Bird Catches the Worm
Meaning: The Early Bird Catches the worm is another trendy and famous phrase meaning the one who arrives early gets the work or the prize. The one who comes early wins.
Example: Throughout the folk stories we’ve heard, the early bird catches the worm, and it is correct.
Take Someone Under Your Wing
Meaning: To take someone under your wing means to take someone under your care. To take responsibility for someone.
Example: We started improving since our teacher took us under her wing
Skinny as a Rail
Meaning: Skinny as a rail is used to say someone is extremely slender and thin like a rail.
Example: People wondered if he was on a diet since he was getting as skinny as a rail
Happy as a Lark
Meaning: Happy as a lark is when someone is pleased.
Example: When she heard about the win, she was as happy as a lark.
A Little Bird Told Me
Meaning: A little bird told me is an older phrase. It is used to say that they received the information from someone, but they don’t want to reveal their name.
Example: A little bird told me about the whole planning, since I improvised myself.
Birds of A Feather
Meaning: Birds of a feather means, two or more things with similar nature, or very much alike to one another.
Example: they are the best friends, more like Birds of a feather.
Bird’s-Eye View
Meaning: Birds eye view refers to the view from a very high angle, generally from above. It resembles to the view a bird might have when flying in the sky.
Example: When riding on a plane we get a bird’s eye view for our Earth.
Early Bird
Meaning: Early bird refers to some who is an early riser. They like to wake up early and start their day.
Example: I am an early riser, since I cannot sleep.
Kill Two Birds with One Stone
Meaning: The phrase to kill two birds with one stone, is among the most popular idiom. It means to accomplish two tasks, but doing a single action.
Example: What a feeling to kill two birds with one stone, he married her, hence receiving both the girl and the money.
Night Owl
Meaning: Night owl is referred to someone who is more active during the night. They are awake and more energetic during the night. They prefer the night to do their work.
Example: I am a night owl, but I don’t have dark circles.
A Lame Duck
Meaning: A lame-duck is used to address an unsuccessful or inefficient person or a thing. Lame-duck is a common phrase to state an ineffectual person or a thing.
Example: The new boss is a lame duck, I am worried about the sales.
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